Beyond Beauty [HOLD]

02: The Surface

     The water felt warm today. I feel like this is just the perfect day to do it. I know something out there is waiting for me. I know what it is, it's fate. She's out there, waiting for me, up in the surface. It's just the small amount of fear that's stopping me.

I'm afraid that if I drink the potion my mother had given me, I'll turn into a human, the kind that she never wanted to share stories about. I'll be like them and I will never be able to turn back, ever again.

Lea watches me as I swim outside, the letter and potion bottle inside the satchel and the necklace dangling around my neck, she takes a deep breath. I turn and look at her, she starts to worry.

"Eve?" she starts,

I sigh, "What will happen if I leave?"

Marc swims out from the cave and passes by Lea, "Why, we'll finally be free of anxeity of wondering where you go every night!" he bluffs then pauses, "but of course...we'll miss it. We'll miss you." he says and caresses my hair.

The sides of my mouth bends upward, forming a smile, "Oh Marc!" I wince and he hugs me. I glance back at Lea and she swims towards us, then hugs me.

I pull back and smile at her softly, "I guess you guys will be fine without me, huh?"

She chuckles and kisses my forehead, "We will, but what matters, is that you take care of yourself up there."

"I'll come back," I tell them.

Lea nods once, that convincing look on her face, she glances at me.

"You take care, Eve." Marc says,

"I surely will." I respond and swim away from both of them,

Lea keeps her eyes on me until I swim off a mile. I look back and wave, they wave back. How I'll miss them both...and the water.

~

    My tails swim as fast as I can, I can feel my breath going faster, my heart isn't skipping a beat. The joy and excitement to see the surface above lifts me up faster. I can almost barely feel the water against my skin, until I can see the light above the water.

I can see it, it's blurry, but it's getting clearer every second I swim up. Until, I reach the very top and my throw my head up, the water splashes around me. I breathe in deeply, inhaling the air in the surface. I start to float with the half of my body above the water, the waves splashing against it. I can finally breathe the 'air' they call. It feels a bit odd, but it's just right.

My eyes squint for a few as I try to look clearly under the sun in the sky that was about to set. I look up, then back at the land. Oh, the land, how it looked beautiful. There were tall houses built in stone, the shore with dry sand, and the people with feet.

     Mother ordered me to drink the potion once I was above the surface. I know I do not have much time. My father can be around here somewhere, and I might not get to see him if I waste any small amount of time.

The potion had the quantity of a small drop of water. It was to be drunk once, and cannot be spilled nor wasted for it was the last potion to ever turn a merman into a human.

That single drop will make me turn into a human quickly, but I will only be given a month to become human. Before the sun sets on the 31st day, I need to swim back into the ocean to gain my fish tails, or I will never have the chance to return as a mermaid and I will be human forever.

I am aware that my father is human. I know that I shall stay with him by then, but I do not belong up in the surface. I belong under the water, with the people I love.

My mother reminded me that my father could re-join me, and we could return underwater with the use of the potion he once owned when he and my mother were together. They kept it for years, wishing they'd see each other again. But my father never took the chance, and my mother never told me why. I know I'll find out though, once I reunite with my long lost father.

     I eye the nearest shore, where there were no human to be found. My tails begin to move as I swim towards the shore. After a long swim, my distance from the shore was only a mile away.

I take a deep breath and stare at the bottle on my hand. I know its time, and I cannot back out of the plan. I flicked the cap open and raised the tiny bottle, my eyes stare at it until I finally had the urge to drink it. My lips pursed and pressed against the mouth of the bottle, and I drank the drop.

I look down on the bottle and sigh. I could not feel my tail change or anything at all, but the liquid that I hath drank could be felt sliding through my throat. It burns like ice, until I felt it reach the end of my throat. My eyes starts becoming a blur, my mind was forcing me to sleep, I felt dizzy.

I tried swimming towards the shore, but I didn't have the energy to move. Instead, I started to sink under the water, unable to wake myself. But a glowing light flashed under, and water started whirling around me. This came as an alarm, and it woke me up from the dizziness the potion gave me.

My mind was back to its consciousness again, and I was alarmed now. I tried swimming to shore using both my hands. I look down and see my fins, slowly turning into the color of my skin, and it splits into two. I gasp under the water and glance back at the direction I had to swim to. I push myself harder, trying to reach the shore. My strength was not enough, but the waves helped me move faster. I throw my head up out and into the surface, gasping for air.

Tired. I'm tired, weary and out of energy. I don't understand why, but I need to stop at a point. My hand reaches out for the shore, but the large wave splashes against me, helping me get on the shore. I could not feel my legs.

One last splash of wave and I finally reach the sandy shore. My weary arms land on the sand at either side of my head, and my cheek resting on the warm sand. 

I was finally on land, tired and almost out of breath. But I made it, only to find myself unconscious.